Sony PS4 sales reach 18.5 million after a year and change, beating PS2

Everyone loves PS4, apparently

Sony has announced that the PS4 has sold 18.5 million units worldwide since its release just over a year ago.

The PS4 is widely recognised as the current winner of the console battle, and the latest figures show that that hasn't changed.

Most recently we learned in November that Microsoft was on track to ship 10 million Xbox Ones to retailers: a way off what the PS4 has achieved.

There has also been a huge jump since Sony last told us of PS4 sales. Back in late October,a little less than a year on from the console's release in mid-November, Sony said it had shipped 13.5 million units.

Pre-Christmas sales were clearly kind to the PS4.

PS4 vs the rest

The console's first-year sales outstrip the PS2's figures by almost five million.

It also thrashes the PS3's results. The last console sold just 3.5 million in its first two quarters and 9.1 million in the following year: the PS4 sold millions more in 12 months than the PS3 did in 18.

However, it doesn't win the game outright. The Nintendo Wii sold more than 20 million units in its first year, despite not being remembered by all as an outright smash.

Things have altered rather drastically for Nintendo since, with the Wii U predicted to sell just 25 million units in its whole lifetime.